Radiators of the baseboard type



Sept. 8, 1959 R. w. KRITZER 2,903,247

RADIATORS OF THE BASEBOARD TYPE Filed Dec. 20, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 o E N l\ INVENTOR. g g Rum-man MKmTze-R BY M Sept. 8, 1959 R. w. KRITZER RADIATORS OF THE BASEBOARD TYPE Filea Dec. 20, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 AT'rv.

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United States Patent RADIATORS OF THE BASEBOARD TYPE Richard W. Kritzer, Chicago, Ill.

Application December 20, 1957, Serial No. 704,074

'1 Claim. (Cl. 257- 137) The invention relates to radiators for combined heating and cooling systems.

One object of the invention is to provide a radiator of the baseboard type which is adapted for the circulation of a refrigerant or coolant for cooling, or a heating fluid, such as steam or hot water, for heating an enclosure or room.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the disposition of the condensate which accumulates in the radiator when a refrigerant is being circulated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a radiator for both heating and cooling, which is simple in constuuction, eflicient in operation and is adapted for installation and operation as the baseboard around the floor of a room.

Other objects will appear from the detail description.

The invention consists in the several novel features which are hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined by the claim at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a vertical longitudinal section of a radiator exemplifying the invention, parts being shown in elevation:

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a face view of one of the fins;

Fig. 6 is a side-elevation, partly in section, of some of the series of fins on the tube or pipe through which the heating or cooling fluids are circulated;

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the portion of the casing which includes the outlet for treated air; and

Fig. 8 is a partial end view, the pipe for circulating fluid being shown in section.

The invention is exemplified in a radiator which is adapted to be installed and operated in a casing, usually of sheet-metal, generally designated 10, which functions as a baseboard, includes a vertical front-wall 11 spaced forwardly of the lower portion of the back-wall 12 of a room or building and upwardly from the floor 13 of the room, a top-wall 14 which extends forwardly from the wall 12 and is joined by an arcuate front comerportion 15 to the upper end of the front-wall 11 and end-walls 16 and 17 which extend between the back-wall 12 of the room or other enclosure, the front-wall 11 of the casing, the floor 13 and the top-wall 14 of the casing. The front-wall 11, arcuate wall 15, top-wall 14 and endwalls 16 and 17 are secured or joined together for unitary removal and replacement of the casing from the floor 13 and back-wall 12. Vertical strips or bars 18 are fixedly secured to the back-wall 12 and are provided at their upper ends with forwardly projecting resilient clips 19 adapted to removably receive and grip a downturned flange 20 on the rear end of top-wall 14. A back turned bottom-flange 21 extends along the lower side of frontwall 11 which is adapted to be removably gripped be- 2,903,247 Patented Sept. 8, 1959 ice tween forwardly projecting resilient clips 22 on the lower end of strips 18 and the floor 13. The flanges 20 and 21 on the casing and clips 19 and 22 are sufliciently flexible for assembly and removal of the carrier from the backwall 12 and the floor.

A pipe or conduit 25 extends longitudinally through the lower portion of casing 10 to a heater or a refrigerating apparatus via suitable controls for circulating a heating fluid or a refrigerant through said pipe.

A cylindrical jacket 30 has closed ends, surrounds pipe 25 in radially spaced relation and forms a conduit for air which extends between said closed ends. Jacket 30 is stationarily supported by brackets 31 which are secured to strips 18. Pipe 25 extends longitudinally through the jacket and is supported in the ends of jacket 30. Heads 27 and 28 are secured by screws 29 on pipe 25 and extend through slots 26 with open rear ends in the end-walls of casing 10 which permit casing 10 and said heads to be removed away from the back-wall 12 for access to the stationarily mounted parts in said casing.

A series of fins 40 are mounted on the pipe 25 and in the jacket 30 and extends longitudinally between the ends of the jacket for transferring heat from the pipe 25 to air stream flowing through said jacket. Each fin includes an annular flange 41 coaxial with and fitting around pipe 25 and a series of vanes or strips 42 integral with said flanges and extending upwardly and downwardly from the flanges. These fins are fabricated from sheet fin-stock of copper or aluminum by piercing an opening therein, then slitting the stock to form coplanar strips and then twisting the strips so that both faces of the vanes 42 will be substantially parallel to the axis of the jacket 30. This causes the transfer of heat from the vanes 42 of the fins 40 to the air flowing through the jacket 30 without excessive retardation of the air and flushes the faces of said vanes for eflicient heat-exchange.

An air impeller disposed in casing 10 is driven by an electric motor 51 which is supported in casing 10 adjacent end-Wall 17. Said impeller is of the centrifugal type and comprises a casing 50 with a side-inlet 52, a propeller-wheel 53 and a discharge section 54 connected to force air from casing 50 into the adjacent end of said jacket adjacent end-wall 17. The opposite end of jacket 30 adjacent end-Wall 16 is disposed within the opening 57 and is provided with a discharge section 56 communicating with a discharge opening 57 formed in the front wall 11. A register-valve 58 is pivoted in a plate 59 which is fixed to the front-wall of casing 11. The register valve 58 controls the discharge of air from jacket 30 into the room in which the radiator is located after said air has been subjected to temperature variations by the fins 40 on pipe 25. The impeller thus draws air through inlets 24 longitudinally of casing 10 and forces said air through impeller-casing 50, trunks 54 longitudinally of jacket 30 in contact fins 40 and then through discharge section 56 and valve 58 when it is open into the space around the radiator. The plate 59 has a circular flange 67 which fits slidably and telescopically in the trunk 56 to permit the removal of casing 10- for access to the parts, such as the impeller and motor which are stationarily supported in said casing.

A drain 70 connected to the bottom of jacket 30 is controlled by a suitable valve 71 for removing condensate which is collected in said jacket from fins 40 when a refrigerant is circulated through pipe 25.

The back or building wall 12 which forms a back for the casing 10 is provided with a recess 60 for the rear portion of the impeller-casing 50. The inlets 24 in endwall 16 may be provided with flanges for directing air longitudinally into casing 10.

The jacket 30 and casing 10 may be any length to fit the available space along the rear-wall for the maximum capacity of heating or cooling. A recess 60 may be provided in the back-wall 12 as a space for the impeller.

The operation is as follows: When a source of either heating fluid or refrigerant is connected to circulate through pipe 25 and the impeller is operated, air will be drawn through inlets 24 into casing 10 and through intake 52 into casing 50 by the propeller 53 which will discharge the air through discharge section 54 into one end of jacket 30. The air Will be forced from discharge section 54- longitudinally through the jacket to the trunk 56 at the opposite end of the jacket 30. The air forced through jacket 30 and trunk 56 will flow under control of registervalve 58 into the room surrounding the casing 10. In its forced passage through jacket 30, the air will contact the opposite faces of the vanes 42 of fins 40 which are serially arranged on pipe 25 and in jacket 30 for transfer of heat from the fluid in pipe 25 transferred to the fins 40. If a heating fluid is circulated through pipe 25, the air flowing through jacket 39 will be heated and discharged into the room surrounding the casing 10 via valve 58. If a refrigerant is circulated through pipe 25, the fins 413 will cool the air passing through the jacket 30 and cooled air will be impelled via discharge section 56 and valve 58 into the room surrounding the casing 10.

The radiator and apparatus therein are usable alternately for heating or cooling without substantial change in structure responsive to the character or temperature of the fluid circulated through pipe '25. When heated air is circulated through pipe 25, heated air will be discharged into the space or room surrounding the radiator. When a refrigerant or coolant from a refrigerating apparatus is circulated through pipe 25, the air drawn into the casing 10 will be cooled in its passage through jacket 30 in contact with fins 40 to discharge cool air into said room.

When refrigerant is circulated through the pipe 25, the condensate which gathers on the fins 40 will gravitate to the bottom of jacket 30 from which it may be drained when necessary through pipe 7 and valve 71.

The invention is not to be restricted to the details set forth since these may be modified within the scope of. the appended claim without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A baseboard radiator adapted to extend long the juncture between a floor and wall, said radiator comprising in combination an elongated casing having front, end and top walls, an open back adapted to be closed by said wall, and an open bottom adapted to be closed by said floor, a fluid conduit in the form of a cylindrical tube extending longitudinally through said end walls and the interior of the casing and adapted to communicate with a source of heating fluid, a cylindrical jacket surrounding said fluid conduit within the casing and having radial end Walls closing the ends of the jacket and fitting sealingly against said fluid conduit, said jacket having its end walls disposed in close proximity to the end walls of the casing respectively, said fluid conduit and jacket defining an elongated annular chamber therebetween, a series of closely spaced fins on said fluid conduit substantially coextensive with the longitudinal extent of the annular chamber, said fins each comprising a cylindrical flange portion surrounding and closely fitting against the outer cylindrical face of the fluid conduit and a transversely disposed vane extending radially outwardly therefrom, the peripheral regions of the vane being slitted inwardly and the intervening portions of the vane between adjacent strips being turned laterally so as to extend in a longitudinal plane substantially parallel to the axis of the fluid conduit, said laterally turned portions of the vane terminating adjacent the inside surface of said jacket, a centrifugal air impeller fixedly mounted within said casing adjacent one end thereof and having an air inlet within the casing and an air discharge outlet section in communication with one end region of the cylindrical jacket, the other end region of the cylindrical jacket having a discharge section communicating with the exterior of the casing through said front wall, said casing being provided with an air inlet at a region remote from the air inlet of the impeller, and a control valve disposed within said discharge section of the cylindrical jacket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,355,629 Carrier Aug. 15, 1944 2,740,268 Jones Apr. 3, 1956 2,774,574 Patterson Dec. 18, 1956 

